silent shrines

I ran across a link the other day to an old article about a photography collection by Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers called Spomenik. "Spomenik" is Serbo-Croatian for monuments, and the photos are of amazing futuristic but abandoned monuments that are scattered across the former Yugoslavia. They were commissioned in the 1960's and '70's to commemorate things like sites of World War II Battles or Concentration Camps. While they attracted millions of visitors through the 1980's, they were abandoned after the Republic dissolved in the early 1990's. Many monuments were destroyed, but others have only fallen into disrepair and lie deserted and unused. Kempenaers traveled through Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina using a 1975 map to locate the memorials in his photographs. The monuments are amazing on their own, but their desolate condition and stark surroundings add even more layers of visual impact. It so happens that Spomenik is currently on display at the UCLA Fowler Museum's Goldenberg Galleria through August 11. If you can't see it in person, you can view the collection on Kempenaers' website here: Jan Kempenaers: Spomenik

It's already the last day of Eurovision already and I haven't done such a great job updating and sharing Lisbon. We really hit the ground running with performances every night (jury shows in between televised shows) and plenty of…

Just a quick taste of a couple days in Barcelona. I'll have to try to do a catch up post later, because I'm in Lisbon for Eurovision now and no time to spend on it! Barcelona was a rough spot for me. I suffered through some…

Well I never meant to stop posting as soon as I got back to the States… but now I'm back up in the air (well, actually between flights, but still...) on another adventure, so lets start it again so I can share it with you. I still…